Same job. New medium.

Today in comms we talked the future of newspapers. Since the advent of the internet the demand for newspapers has steadily declined and newspapers have become endangered. Newspapers are reducing budgets, laying off staff, and basically doing whatever they can to cut costs. The ability to get news with the internet easier than with a traditional newspaper, faster, and at no cost has caused newspaper distribution to plummet (sp?) and online sites like craigslist have eaten away to newspaper's revenue stream. Although there is something to be said for the tactile feel of holding a paper, and how much information is gained compared to surfing an internet news site, this doesn't seem like enough to save newspapers. There will always be some market for traditional newspapers, but in just a few years they may become an oddity.

Even though newspapers are on the wane I feel that newspaper reporters and those students studying print journalism have little to fear. Newspapers may be failing, but that in no way shows that people care any less about news. In fact, using the internet, the average person likely gets news information from more sources than they would have years ago. The profession of a journalist is based upon writing and I personally cannot conceive of a time in which people will not need the news digested and well written. The journalists 0f tomorrow may very well not be working on a newspaper staff, but they will have plenty of opportunities to write for news websites. These internet sites gain a profit off of advertising space, much like a newspaper, and as the internet continues to grow and the industry learns how to best use advertising on the internet, more and more positions will be available. It's the exact same job, just on a new medium.

Who is a Journalist?

It is very common in the last few years for someone to say that "everyone is a journalist" or, at least, everyone who wants to be. And with the many ways that the internet has changed journalism it seems that statement may be pretty accurate. Nowadays people have email, instant messaging, myspace, facebook, and blogging available to them. All of these things allow people to share their views with a large audience and become effectively published. Blogs or news sites created by people that don't work for any news organization can have a vast audience and have a real impact. During Bill Clinton's presidency it was Matt Drudge's "Drudge Report" that broke the story of the Clinton sex scandal.

Although I think that our understanding of who is or is not a journalist needs to be expanded, it seems to me that if we say that "everyone" is a journalist it robs the word journalist of any real meaning. Even though the act of journalism can be practiced by anyone, I think the title of "journalist" takes a little bit more. I think that the profession of journalism implies not only that the person practices journalism, but that they follow a certain ethical code. impariality, accuracy, fact-checking, etc. Just being able to speak with a loud voice doesn't make you a journalist.

First Post!!1!!!1

I just created this blog for my Comms 239 class at BYU. So right now I'm mostly just trying to figure out how this works. In this blog I will be commenting on class material, news stories that pertain to journalism, and following/analyzing the website of a newspaper or news station (which I have yet to choose.) If I enjoy this enough maybe I'll make an actual blog of my life.